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A Top Gun Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jet downed a Russian attack drone using a masterful manoeuvre, sending it crashing before it exploded into a giant fireball.

Footage shows the Russian Shahed drone flying over Ukraine when the MiG-29 passes extremely close beneath the unmanned plane and takes it down without firing a shot.

The video shows how the pilot used the warplane's turbulent aerodynamic wake to destabilise it in a daring tactic to disrupt the explosives-packed drone.

The drone is then seen plummeting towards the ground before exploding.

The Russian Shahed is Iran's biggest contribution to Vladimir Putin's war and has been adapted by Russian forces to strike Ukraine.

However, it is relatively light and vulnerable to a gust that can send it off course, and Ukraine is becoming increasingly skilled at intercepting Russian drones.

Last month, video emerged of a Ukrainian backseat gunner shooting down several Russian drones from an open cockpit.

Footage showed a Yak-52 co-pilot sitting in the backseat of the plane before aiming his assault rifle and shooting at the Shaheds.

Footage shows the Russian Shahed drone flying over Ukraine as Kyiv's MiG-29 approaches it

The video shows how the pilot used the warplane's turbulent aerodynamic wake to destabilise it in a daring tactic to disrupt the explosives-packed drone

The drone is then seen plummeting towards the ground in this video grab

The Shahed drone eventually exploded into a huge fireball

After firing his rifle in one clip, a thin trail of smoke began to rise from the drone's right wing, before the pilot flew closer and it exploded above the sea.

It comes as Russia pounded the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and the surrounding area with scores of missiles and drones in an overnight attack on Thursday that lasted for hours and killed at least 16 people.

Moscow's forces have in recent months intensified their ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv, exploiting Ukraine's chronic shortage of US-made Patriot air defence interceptors, the sole weapon in its arsenal able to shoot down the missiles.

Large-scale Russian missile strikes have become a regular occurrence this summer.

Just over two weeks ago, a Russian attack on Kyiv and its surrounding region killed 17 people, and nine were killed in the city two days before that.

The United Nations said last week that Kyiv was one of the hardest-hit cities in July, with at least 54 civilians killed and 202 injured.

At the same time, Ukraine has shifted the war onto Russian soil through long-range drone strikes on oil facilities that have caused fuel shortages across the country.

It has also unsettled the Russian public by striking warehouses of Wildberries, the country's biggest online retailer.

It comes as Russia pounded the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and the surrounding area with scores of missiles and drones in an overnight attack on Thursday. Pictured: A woman walks at a site of yesterday's missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine August 21, 2026

Firefighters work at the site of residential houses hit by overnight Russian drone strikes, Ukraine August 21, 2026

Residents take pictures as smoke rises in the city during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, August 20, 2026

, Ukrainian rescuers work to extinguish a fire in a warehouse following an air attack at an undisclosed location in the Kyiv region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, August 20

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has pleaded for countries to send more Patriot interceptors for defence, but international stockpiles are low amid the Iran war and Kyiv's more than four-year fight against Russia's all-out invasion.

Russia's overnight barrage also included cruise missiles and jet-powered drones that further strain air defences, Ukraine's air force said.

Explosions boomed across Kyiv in the dark, but the air force said hits were recorded at 28 locations across the country. Emergency services said 15 people were killed in the capital, with another death in the wider Kyiv region.

About 40 people were wounded, Zelenskyy said, as air raid warnings lasted until after dawn.

More than 38,000 people, including over 2,000 children, sheltered in Kyiv's subway stations overnight, the system's operator said.

'It was a massive attack,' Zelenskyy said on social media, adding that Russia 'had been preparing (it) for a long time, combining different types of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones, aiming to cause as much damage as possible to civilian infrastructure.'

The Russian Defence Ministry said it struck a Kyiv industrial site manufacturing components for Flamingo cruise missiles.

Sites involved in the production and storage of drones, an ammunition depot and a logistics centre were also hit, it said.

Russia can produce more than 200 cruise and ballistic missiles per month, Ukraine’s intelligence agency told news outlet Ukrainska Pravda in comments published Thursday.

It has stockpiled more than 1,100 cruise missiles and about 130 Iskander-M ballistic missiles, as well as hundreds of missiles of other types, the agency was quoted as saying.

It was not possible to independently verify the report, and Russian officials do not routinely answer questions about the country’s arsenal.